Swords and other melee weapons have almost become obsolete with the advent of modern firearms yet there is still something alluring about a warrior who chooses to use sword as their primary weapon despite the inherent disadvantage. Today's battle pits two warriors who specialise in swordmanship and close quarters combat in order to get the job done. For these two bringing a knife to a gunfight isn't a foolish mistake but rather a viable option and those who underestimate them quickly find themselves with a blade through the throat.
Jean Pierre Polnareff: French Stand user, on a mission to kill the man who raped and murdered his sister.
vs
Tanith Low: Freelance sanctuary agent, noted for her preference of swordsmanship over magic.
Who is Deadliest
Jean Pierre Polnareff[]
| “ | You’ve got to say something more like this before you get revenge. My name is Jean-Pierre Polnareff. For my sister’s honour, and so that my friend Avdol can rest in peace... I'm going to hurl you into the depths of despair!
— Polnareff when confronting J. Geil.
|
” |
Born in France, Jean Pierre Polnareff is the user of the Stand Silver Chariot. Polnareff began to train extensively in the use of his Stand after his sister was raped and killed by a mysterious stranger with two right hands, in the hope of getting his revenge. Subdued and brainwashed by DIO, Polnareff would later join Joseph Joestar and his group in his quest to save his daughter from DIO's curse, after they removed the flesh bud that was controlling him.
Powers and Abilities []
- Silver Chariot: Polnareff controls the Stand Silver Chariot which takes on the appearance of a robotic humanoid, clad in a tight fitting set of medieval armour. Silver Chariot's main form of attack comes from it's Rapier which is sharp enough to cut through solid rock. It's abilities include;
- Superhuman Speed: Without a doubt Silver Chariot's best asset is it's speed. Silver Chariot is fast enough to skewer coins and balls of fire, deflect bullets and even keep up with the insanely fast Star Platinum's barrage of punches and that's when bogged down with it's armour. Polnareff can command Silver Chariot to shed it's armour to become even faster, so fast that it moves too fast for the human mind to comprehend so that it appears as though it is in multiple places at once. These doubles are not illusory; the Stand is moving between different positions at a speed that is faster than the eye can see. As such, were all the doubles to attack at once, it would mean that the Stand is attacking from all those positions simultaneously, giving it incredible destructive power.
- Superhuman Precision: As a result of it's superhuman speed, Silver Chariot is also incredibly precise. As previously mentioned Silver Chariot can deflect and slice in half bullets, slice through fire and even strategically break several items in a hotel room to allow it to see the battlefield, despite being unable to see beforehand.
- Armour: As mentioned above Silver Chariot is clad in a suit of medieval knights armour including a metal mask covering it's face. It is because of this armour that when attacked in this state Polnareff does not receive any corresponding injuries although the trade off is that it's speed is significantly lowered and Polnareff is unable to see through the Mask, meaning he has to constantly have an opponent in his eyesight in order for Silver Chariot to attack them effectively.
- Sword Shoot: A secret technique that Polnareff has shared with nobody, Silver Chariot can launch the blade of his rapier at an opponent with enough power to pierce through a human body and even if the attack misses it can be bounced of a wall or object to strike an opponent from an unexpected angle. The drawback of this however is that Silver Chariot can only materialise one sword and so is only usually used as a last resort.
Tanith Low[]
| “ | Come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough!
— Tanith Low, just before a fight becomes rough.
|
” |
When Tanith was a young girl, she was sent by her parents to become a hidden blade under the teaching of Quoneel. There, she learned combat, stealth and Wall-Walking as well as unlocking locks. She took the name Tanith after the first person she killed when in training. When she was old enough, she left Quoneel and the other students and became a mercenary and bounty hunter. After an encounter with Mr. Bliss where she nearly died trying to save his life, he took an interest in her and she began to work for the English Sanctuary.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Peak Human Physicality: Having trained as an assassin from a very young age, Tanith has honed her body into the peak of human physicality as well as having her physical capabilities boosted by magic. Tanith has an above average strength rating being able to flip a much larger and heavier opponent over her and send powerful sorcerers reeling with a punch. She has also been shown to carry a full grown person for several hundred metres without strain. Tanith has been the victim of almost constant injury since her first appearance in the series but yet has still managed to pull through. She has survived being poisoned, thrown off a moving car, stabbed through the stomach, being nailed to a chair and has had most of the bones in her body broken but still comes back as strong as ever. Tanith has often been described as a flashy fighter, using elaborate kicks and twists to out manoeuvre her opponents and managing to work back-flips and cartwheels effectively into combat. She also has the ability to walk up walls which she makes great use of in combat and can even duel another swordsman will upside down.
- Master Swordsman: Tanith is unusual among sorcerers as she prefers to focus on close quarters combat as opposed to her magic in combat. She has greatly honed her swordsmanship against various mages and supernatural creatures such as vampires and can fight and beat highly skilled swordsman. Her remnant only makes her more deadly and allows her to take on multiple opponents at once and come out on top. Her sword of choice is unspecified but appears to be a Katana and is sharp enough to easily slice of heads with ease.
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: As well as being a skilled swordsman, Tanith is also a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and can take on much older and more experienced mages such as Tesseract and hold her own and take on multiple opponents at once.
- Magic: As previously mentioned Tanith prefers to use her sword in combat and so her magical abilities take on a more passive role. Her main power is to walk on walls which she uses to out manoeuvre opponents and make her way through crowded areas. She can also unlock any lock just by touch and can reinforce a door by putting her hand against it and saying 'Withstand', making it powerful enough to hold back even the strongest of mages.
- Master of Stealth: Tanith has also shown a high level of stealth. She has been shown to be able to easily sneak in and out of heavily guarded and magically defended fortresses with ease and is a master of sticking to the shadows, getting close enough to a person to hear them breathing without being detected.
X Factors[]
Training: Polnareff=75/Tanith=87
Polnareff began training with Silver Chariot not long after his sisters murder and has been training for at least 3 years but it's never specified if he's being taught by someone or if all his skills are self taught. Tanith was trained to become an Assassin from the age of 7 or so and her training focuses on both magic, close quarters combat and assassination techniques which is both more varied and extensive that whatever Polnareff was doing.
Experience: Polnareff=78/Tanith=90
We don't know a whole lot about Polnareff's past before he joined up with Joseph and Co. but on the journey to defeat Dio he has faced off against and defeated a rouges gallery of powerful stand users and vampires, albeit only over the course of 50 days. Tanith on the other hand has a good 70 years of experience fighting trolls, vampires, sorcerers, you name it and she's probably faced it over the length of her sword.
Physicality: Polnareff=82/Tanith=80
Polnareff is a big guy at 6'3 and is also heavily muscled which makes him a formidable physical opponent but his rating takes a bit of a hit when you take into consideration Silver Chariot's lack of strength. Tanith may be considerably smaller but she is the peak of human physicality backed up by magic to boost her capabilities
Brutality: Polnareff=82/Tanith=76
Polnareff is no stranger to using violence against his enemies and is more than willing to cripple or murder an opponent. Tanith was trained to be a ruthless killer and against monsters or the clear cut villains she can be but she'd rather leave an opponent alive if she can help it.
Voting System/Notes[]
Will be set shortly after Stardust Crusaders for Polnareff and before Mortal Coil for Tanith.
As Tanith is a Mage it is presumed that she can see Silver Chariot.
In order to be counted in full, votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edge format.
Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.
Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.
I reserve the right to award a vote as half or discount it entirely for reason not mentioned here if I feel it is applicable.
Battle[]
Intro[]
Valkyrie is dead.
Tanith still cannot fathom these words to be true no matter how hard she tries. It had only been a few days since she had last seen her, just before she was about to head off on a mission. She had lost friends before sure, but Valkyrie had been like a younger sister to her. She remembers how Valkyrie was bubbling with excitement over the chance to go to Japan with no idea that she would never be coming back. Why would she think that, after all the threats Skulduggery and she had faced over the years who could’ve imagined a routine surveillance mission could’ve ended in tragedy. Tanith’s thoughts turn to Skulduggery, the Skeleton Detective and what must be going through his head.
She glances over at him sat in the Bentley’s Driver seat as he guides the car through the streets. They pull into the driveway of a house owned by the Japanese Sanctuary, which Skulduggery was using as his base of operations. The silence between them is uncomfortably grim and a far cry from Skulduggery’s usual chattering. Tanith cannot think of anything to say to break it and even if she could she is hardly in the mood for chit chat. They enter the house which is pristinely clean, not a hard feat when the sole occupant doesn’t need to eat or drink and Tanith flops down on the sofa, Skulduggery taking a position leaning against the wall facing her.
“I suppose I had better fill you in on what is going on here,” Skulduggery says after what seems like an age. “Turns out the Valkyrie’s killer, Jotaro Kujo, has friends in high places. His grandfather is wealthy American real estate tycoon and he’s been using his wealth and connections to keep the boy hidden. China has set up a perimeter around the boy’s home, school and other places he visited recently and Ghastly and Fletcher have been searching around as well but alas we’ve had no luck yet.”
“This Jotaro kid, how powerful of a mage is he exactly?” Tanith asks, “Valkyrie was a capable mage but there are plenty of mages who could’ve killed her.” Skulduggery goes still for a moment as if contemplating something.
“Well I suppose I might as well tell you, Valkyrie was Darquesse.”
“Darquesse? As in the Darquesse from the prophecies? The one who is supposed to destroy the world?”
“Yes. Well was going to anyway. Darquesse was Valkyrie’s true name which gave her great magical and physical ability. Judging by the state they found her in, I can’t image Darquesse didn’t pop out to help her at some point during the fight.”
“And he still beat her! Someone who knows their true name is incredibly powerful!”
“Exactly. Naturally the Japanese Sanctuary is also keen on finding Jotaro and they’ve been conducting enquires of their own. They’ve managed to discover that there is a plane flying in today with a person on board who we think is here to help out Jotaro and his grandfather.” Skulduggery tosses a file onto the table in front of Tanith. “I want you to tail this person, see if they can lead us to the boy or if not at least give us an idea of what they might be planning. Tanith opens the file and reads the name at the top.
Jean-Pierre Polnareff.
In a penthouse suite, on the top floor of a five-star hotel, the boy everyone is looking for sits reading a book on marine biology. Joseph Joestar paces the floor frantically, stopping only to periodically stare at his troublemaking grandson. “You’ve really done it this time Jotaro. Do you have any idea how much trouble this has caused for us?”
“It’s not my fault I was attacked by some crazy girl,” Jotaro says nonchalantly.
“This crazy girl has a lot of powerful friends it seems. Do you even understand how hard it has been to keep you from getting arrested or killed? We’ve moved location half a dozen times just to throw these people off our trail. And god knows how many times I’ve had to lie to your mother about this. She’s worried sick wondering why you haven’t been in school or why she can’t speak to you.” Jotaro shrugs not even looking up from his book.
The phone rings suddenly and Joseph snatches it up exasperatedly. “Yes, who is it” he snaps. “Ah of course. Send him up. Thanks,” he puts down the phone and turns to Jotaro. “Things are getting very sticky at the moment, so I’ve decided to call in some extra help.”
“Extra Help? We’ve got the Speedwagon Foundation, haven’t we? What possible other help could we need?”
“For such bizarre circumstances we need somebody who knows what’s really going on. Someone who knows about Stands and who can help us fight them.” The door swings open behind them and Jotaro looks up to a see a tall, heavily muscled man with silver vertical hair walking towards them. A rare smile breaks over his face and he stands and grips the man’s hand firmly.
“Polnareff. It’s good to see you again my friend.”
“As soon as Mr Joestar called, I dropped everything I was doing and jumped on the next plane to Japan. I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep out of trouble you mad bastard. And Mr Joestar! Still knocking around you old geezer,” he continues.
“Oh, I’ll be around long after you are you little jackass!” Joseph says warmly. His tone quickly turns serious “Enough with the greetings, you know why you’re here don’t you Polnareff?”
“Of course, I’m here to make sure old grumpy pants over there doesn’t get into any more trouble.”
“This is serious Polnareff. There are some powerful people out for Jotaro’s head, and we need to be alert. Who knows when they will find us again?” As the Joseph begins to explain the situation the blonde locks of Tanith Low peek up from the window overlooking the city. Her gaze hardens as she recognises Jotaro and she has to hold herself back from attacking him there and then. She walks back down the side of the building and hails a cab from outside the hotel entrance, heading back to Skulduggery to let him know where Jotaro is…
Battle []
Tracing her finger across the locking mechanism Tanith pushes the door to the penthouse suite door open with a quiet click. They’ve had surveillance on the hotel Jotaro has been staying in for the past week, waiting patiently for their chance to strike. Yet despite this the boy had somehow managed to slip away again, frustrating Skulduggery and the Japanese Sanctuary once more. Looking around the room there doesn’t look to be any signs of a hasty exit, this was a planned-out escape. Tanith begins rummaging through the draws and work surfaces, looking for any clue as to where they might have been heading. Finding nothing she checks all the other rooms, the two bedrooms and both the en-suites but again there is nothing to be found. Kicking a bedside table in frustration Tanith moves back into the main room, her sword leaping into her hand as she finds a man stood waiting for her.
“So, it looks like Mr Joestar was right after all,” the man says calmly, and Tanith recognises him as Jean-Pierre Polnareff, the man she had tailed to find this hotel in the first place. “He said that once we moved Jotaro whoever was hunting him would show up here to look for clues.”
“Where is he?” Tanith asks.
“Yeah right like I’m just going to tell you where he is,” Polnareff replies mockingly.
“He murdered my friend, he should be in jail!” Tanith snarls.
“I think actually you’ll find that it was self-defence, she attacked him first. Jotaro didn’t want to kill her but he had to in order to save his own life.”
“I’m not going to argue this with you, just tell me where Jotaro Kujo is before I make you tell me.” Polnareff laughs.
“Oh yeah is that right? You’re going to make me, are you? Well then give it your best shot.” Tanith launches herself at Polnareff, sword swinging right for his neck. Before it can connect however an armour clad being appears out of thin air, blocking the sword with a blade of it’s own. With a heave it shoves Tanith back and twirls it’s sword around. “This is my Stand, Silver Chariot. If you want to get any information out of me then you’ll have to go through him first.” Tanith looks at the armoured swordsman and shrugs her shoulders.
“Gladly” she says coldly. She closes the distance between them and swings her sword upwards diagonally which Silver Chariot parries away. More strikes rain down on the Stand but each one is blocked or turned away. Polnareff’s blank expression during the whole exchange spurs Tanith into more frenzied attacks in annoyance but no matter what she tries she cannot get through it’s defences.
“Is that the best you can do?” Polnareff asks mockingly. “If so then I think it’s time for me to finish this.” When the next slash is turned away, Silver Chariot responds with a strike of it’s own and it slices into Tanith’s arm. The damage is minimal but the speed of the attack throws Tanith off guard and Polnareff follows this up with a barrage of slashes. It takes all of Tanith’s skill avoid or dodge all of the attacks and even then, a few make it through and cut her. Forced back by the sheer ferocity of the attack she finds herself backed up against the door to one of the bedrooms. Using her free hand to push down the handle, she ducks into the room just as the rapier swooshes past her head.
She places her hand on the door and says “Withstand”, reinforcing the door’s strength and giving it a glossy glow. As Silver Chariot hacks away at the door ineffectively she checks her wounds and finds that while she has been cut a number of times, none of them are serious wounds. Taking a moment to catch her breath and figure out her next move she can hear the sound of sawing. An idea pops into her head, just as a piece of the wall crashes to the ground…
Stepping through the hole he has cut in the wall, Polnareff looks around bewildered as his opponent is nowhere to be seen. “Where the hell has, she gone” he wonders to himself as he strolls around, Silver Chariot following him in a defensive stance. Checking in the en-suite doesn’t give him any luck and the wardrobe is also empty. As he bends down to looks under the bed, he feels a sharp whistling of air and a big clump of his hair falls neatly to the ground. “What the hell!” he shouts and looks up to see Tanith crouched on the ceiling, lining up for another attack. Silver Chariot rushes to intercept and the sword clangs away but she is quick to respond with more attacks. Duelling upside-down Tanith finds dealing with Silver Chariot’s attacks much easier as the unfamiliarity of having to attack upwards making it’s attacks less accurate. Parrying away a weak stab she sees an opportunity and drops from the ceiling, using the momentum from the fall to bring her sword down in a cutting motion. It connects solidly with Silver Chariot’s shoulder plate but bounces off harmlessly.
“A-Ha! So, the sword you’re using isn’t a Stand then?” Polnareff says, his confidence returning. “If that is the case then I have nothing to worry about.” Silver Chariot’s armour explodes off and goes on the offensive, stabbing rapidly without much carrying for accuracy. Tanith is unable to adjust to the sudden change of speed and she is stabbed multiple times though the torso, making her cough up blood. A final slash gashes her across the face and she stumbles backwards, crashing through the window and toppling out of view over the edge. “That wasn’t all that difficult” Polnareff says to himself, “I was expecting a much harder fight than that.” He wanders over to the shattered window and peers over the edge, expecting to see a big bloody splatter. Instead he finds himself face to face with Tanith, feet planted firmly on the side of the building. She swings her sword at Polnareff’s leg, too quickly for him to react and it slices deeply into ankle.
“Oh, come on” she growls in frustration as she sees the sword has been stopped by the metal ankle of Silver Chariot. “I summoned my Stand inside my leg to stop that attack,” Polnareff says grimacing. Tanith pulls herself into a handstand and slams the heel of her feet into Polnareff’s face, sending him reeling. She pulls herself back into the room and strides forward to continue the fight. Polnareff shakes his head in amazement. “I can’t believe you’re still able to fight after that.” “I’ve survived through worse injuries that this. I wonder if the same will be said of you when I’m finished with you.” Polnareff can’t help but grin at the bravado.
“I’m sure I will be.”
“Well then. Come and have a go, if you think you’re hard enough.” Silver Chariot explodes forwards with a lightning fast strike, but Tanith is expecting it and sidesteps it. She flicks her hand and a spray of blood, her own blood, shoots through the air and hits Polnareff right in the face. He tries to wipe the blood out of his vision, but Tanith is quick to take advantage and goes on the offensive, throwing everything she has at the Frenchmen. Silver Chariot tries to protect it’s user but because of Polnareff’s impaired vision it cannot stop all the strikes. He is pushed back by the onslaught into the bathroom, cuts being opened up on his body from the attacks that get through Silver Chariot’s defence. He trips suddenly, falling into the shower and bringing the curtain down on top of him. Tearing it off he finds Tanith’s sword inches from his throat.
“Tell where Jotaro Kujo is?” she says menacingly.
“I like that little trick you pulled with the blood,” Polnareff says oddly relaxed. “I admire your determination to avenge your friend. In better circumstances we could’ve had something special you and me.” Tanith presses the sword into his throat.
“You’re not my type. I don’t like the big dumb type.”
“Hey now. I’m a great guy if you’d just take the time to get to know me.” Without warning Silver Chariot materialises suddenly and the blade of his rapier shoots forward. It sails past Tanith’s midsection and into the room behind them.
“I think you need to work on your aim a bit,” Tanith says.
“Who said I was aiming for you.” Tanith hears a clang echoing from behind her and as she turns the blade ricochets off the back wall and pierces her throat. Tearing a massive hole through her neck it continues onwards and embeds itself into the wall. Tanith drops to her knees, blood cascading from her wound as Polnareff steps out of the shower. She tries one last attack, but her sword is easily batted away by Silver Chariot, who retrieves his blade from the wall and slots it back into place. “You were a strong opponent,” Polnareff says “I never thought someone without a Stand could give me this good of a fight. You came to avenge your friend and I can respect that, I was once driven by vengeance like you were. I’m sorry it had to end this way.” Silver Chariot drives it’s sword through Tanith’s head, ending her suffering.
As the adrenaline wears off Polnareff feels the sharp pain from all the wounds he received from the battle. He hobbles over to the bedside phone and dials a number. “It’s me. You were right Mr Joestar they did send someone up here. Yes, I’ve dealt with them. I’m pretty badly hurt though so I could really do with some medical treatment. Okay then I’ll wait here. Au revoir.”He puts down the phone and lays back on the bed, body aching. “What has that stingy asshole got himself into this time,” he ponders.
Winner: Jean-Pierre Polnareff
Final Verdict []
This was a fairly easy victory for Polnareff in the end, largely because Tanith had no way to harm Silver Chariot itself. That meant she had to try and target Polnareff himself which was very hard because of the aforementioned Silver Chariot. While Tanith had a lot of tricks up her sleeve it was the simpler abilities possessed by Silver Chariot that won the battle mostly notably it’s incredible speed and precision.